Meeting to be held over car park chaos at mall
PLANS are in place to hold a ‘multi-stakeholder discussion’ after customers were trapped in their cars at Silverburn’s multistorey car park.
Scotland’s transport minister Humza Yousaf has promised drivers that he will facilitate a meeting to make sure traffic chaos at the shopping centre won’t happen again.
On Saturday, the Evening Times reported online that families and elderly people were among those stuck in the car park for several hours. Many complained that the cars had been at a standstill on the top floor of the multi-storey due to traffic gridlock.
Craig Lin tweeted: “Trapped in this hellhole known as the Silverburn multi-storey carpark.”
He later added: “Update: That’s now an hour and a half on the fourth floor of Silverburn multi-storey carpark.”
Shopper Nicola Brown found a novel way to pass the time. She tweeted: “What else can you do when you’re stuck in Silverburn car park...sit back and watch Netflix. An hour and counting...”
Rachel Ross had an even better idea: “Anyone on the top floor of Silverburn carpark got crisps or something? Starting to get hungry. I’ll swap for some wine.”
STV weatherman Sean Batty was among the angry shoppers who couldn’t get out. He tweeted the centre: “Stuck on the 4th floor of the @shopsilverburn multi-storey car park for 45 mins and not moved at all! Anyone got a helicopter to get us out of here?”
Some shoppers also claimed cars were still being allowed to enter the car park despite the fact the people stuck inside were going nowhere.
Elaine Mulcahy tweeted Police Scotland: “Your help is needed at Silverburn. People with young kids stuck in cars for over 90 mins. Complete chaos.”
The SNP’s Rosa Zambonini added: “A woman on the third level of @ shopsilverburn car park with 2 small kids stuck for an hour and a half. Bad organisation. Thankfully my friend and I can go back in, what’s the plan Silverburn?”
During the gridlock, a Silverburn spokesperson tweeted: “Our team are working hard to try and get everyone who is trying to exit out as quickly and as safely as possible thanks again for your patience.”
Mr Yousaf has since posted on Twitter saying he has spoken to Silverburn management.
He said: “I’ve offered to facilitate a multi-stakeholder discussion with Silverburn, police, council and TS to ensure a repetition of this parking issue is avoided for future peak trading times.”
This is not the first time that shoppers have been stuck in the car park due to heavy traffic.
At Christmas time, the arrival of the Coca-Cola truck also saw cars at a complete standstill in the multistorey for several hours.
Silverburn Shopping Centre has been contacted for comment.